Santa Barbara High football fell on the road to a strong Newbury Park squad by a score of 31-21 in Friday’s Conejo Coast League opener in Newbury Park.
The Dons (3-3, 0-1 Conejo Coast) were competitive throughout but couldn’t overcome the firepower of the defending CIF state runner-up Panthers, who are led by Michigan commit quarterback Brady Smigiel.
However, Smigiel suffered an injury in the second quarter and was forced to miss the entirety of the second half.
Newbury Park came out of the gates firing, building up a 14-0 lead in the opening quarter thanks to a rushing touchdown and a blocked punt that was returned back into the endzone.
Santa Barbara High got in on the scoring early in the second quarter on a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Aaron Baizan to cut the deficit in half at 14-7.
However, the Panthers responded as Smigiel rushed in a score just before the half to take a 21-7 lead into the break.
The Dons then opened up the second-half scoring on a 30-yard touchdown strike from Griffin Arnold to Keegan to bring it back to a one-score game at 21-14.
Newbury Park once again answered with a field goal late in the third quarter to grow its lead to 24-14 with one quarter to play.
After a defensive stop, the Panthers ripped off a long touchdown run to grow their lead out to 31-14 in the fourth.
Santa Barbara High got in the endzone once more on an 18-yard touchdown pitch and catch from Arnold to Monty Lopez, but Newbury Park ran out the clock from there to secure the win.
The Dons will look to earn their first league victory when they host Rio Mesa next Friday at 7 p.m. at Peabody Stadium.
